Prairie Recipes

Meat Dishes

Sometimes cooks had to hurry things along when preparing a dish in order to save some time and trouble. Since it often took hours of cooking to develop flavors, this special sauce was compounded and used to add depth of flavor to meats. This 1879 recipe is similar to “brown sauce” in a bottle today.

Meat Sauce

2 cups chopped onions                                        1 tablespoon of dry mustard

3 pods of red peppers, chopped                           1 teaspoon turmeric

2 tablespoons brown sugar                                  1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon celery seed                                      1 teaspoon salt

Put all in a quart jar and fill with cider vinegar. A tablespoon of this mixed in a stew, steak or gravy, will impart not only a fine flavor, but a rich color.

 

The following is a typical way to cook beef. The recipe is over 100 years old.

 Boiled Beef Dinner

4 to 5 # beef brisket                                            1 small cabbage sliced

1 large onion                                                       1 ½ tablespoon butter

4 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced                 1 ½ tablespoon flour

4 carrots, peeled and cut                                      ½ cup chopped parsley

4 small onions                                                      salt & pepper to taste

4 small turnips, peeled and cut                            1 egg, beaten

Place brisket and large onion in a kettle in water to cover; place on high heat. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for two or three hours or until tender; add water as needed to maintain one quart liquid. Place potatoes, carrots, small onions and turnips in kettle the last 30 minutes brisket is cooking. About ten minutes before brisket is done, add cabbage to the kettle. Remove brisket, cabbage and vegetables from kettle; drain. Place brisket and vegetables on platter; keep warm. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat; stir in flour. Gradually pour one to one-and-one half cups broth from brisket into flour mixture, stirring constantly to make gravy. Add parsley, salt and pepper. Before serving bring two cups broth to a boil in a saucepan; stir in egg, salt and pepper. Serve egg soup, vegetables and gravy with brisket. Yield: 4 servings.

 

A much simpler, but just as tasty version can be made in the crockpot.
 

Smoked Beef Brisket

4 to 5 # brisket                                           ½ tablespoon garlic salt

½ tablespoon celery salt                             ½ bottle liquid smoke

½ tablespoon onion powder

Place brisket on large piece of aluminum foil. Sprinkle seasoning all over meat; add liquid smoke. Carefully wrap foil around meat sealing it and place in large crockpot. Cover and cook on high for one hour; then drop temperature to low and cook for eight to ten hours. May be sliced and served immediately. My family likes it cooled, sliced the next day, and reheated. Barbeque sauce may be added after the eight to ten hours cooking time.